Ice-making apparatus.



r .J. HUMES,

10E MAKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1912. 1- Q82 87L Patented Dec. 30,- 1913.

2 SHEET S-SHEET l.

ATTORNEY J. HUME'S.

ICE MAKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11mm.

1,082,871; Y Patented D0030, 1913.-

j ,4 i 3:15 3 65 a 7 mrmsssw 3d f IIWENTOR 1414.0

. ATTORNEY zen of the United to the cane-r UTNITED sTAr s PATENT O FICE,

- JAMES HUMES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ICE-MAKING APIPABATUIS.

'To all whom it may concern: l Be it known that I, Ji-nrn s Hones, aciti- States, residing in Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful In; pro vements inIce-Making Apparatus, of which the following is such a full, clear, andexact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to which itappertains to. make and use the same, reference being had to the ings,forming part of this specification.

Y My invention relates to certain improvements in apparatus formanufacturing blocks of ice and it has reference more particularlyportable vessel in which the iceblock is formed.

' It is the purpose of my inv ntion, as will more fully hereinafterappear, to make the can more durable and to increase its elliciency, andparticularly incases where the ice-is formed from raw or undistilledwater, though of course distilled water maybe used. Myinvention isfurther characterized by havingthe can with its insulating orfreezing-retarding pocket and its air-injecting pipe made as a unitaryarticle of commerce or manufacture. With these and other objects in viewmy invention consists in the various novel and peculiar arrangements andcombinations of the several different parts of the apparatus,

I all as hereinafter fully set forth, and then pointed out in theclaims.

I have illustratedtypes of my invention in the accompanying drawings,wherein Figurel is a perspective view of my improved ice can. Fig. 2 isa central vertical sectional view of the can shown in Fig. 1. "Fig.3 isa vertical sectional view of an ordinary freezing-tank showing one of myice cans placed therein and with a block of ice formed in the can. Fig.4 is a top plan view of the ice can with a block of ice formed therein.F ig. portion of my improved can, the view showing the pocketed side ofthe can and a modified form ofair-injecting pipe or duct. Fig. 6is'a'top plan view of my improved can in which the air pocket-is used'on two opposite sides of the one .of said pockets. This view block ofice completely structionofcan. Fig. 7,is top plan view of a modifiedform of the can showing a block\of iceformed therein.

shows the Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed June 17,1912.

accompanying draw-' can with air-injecting pipe in formed in this con-'Patented Dec. 3 0,19 13. Serial N0. 704,118.

the can, one piece of sheet metal may be used to form three of the sides5, (3 and 7 and the fourth side 8 may be made of a single piece flangedat each of its side edges 9- and 10 so as to embrace the free edges ofthe sides 5 and 7. A separate piece of sheet metal 11 of suitablesizehas its side edges flanged at 12 and 13 and near its bottom it is formedwith a shoulder 14 with a depending liangc 15. This piece of sheetmetal. is placed upon one of the sides of the. can, preferably the side8, so that the flanges l2 and 13 thereof lie against the flanges f) and10 respectively of the side 8. These parts are then secured together bymeans of suitable rivets 1c and 17 which pass through the llang'csand'likewisc the edges of the sides ,5 and 7 of the can so that one setof rivets serves to hold these three parts together, and with the use ofsolder these joints are made water-tight. The bottom flange 15 of thepocket-forming piece of sheet metal 11 is secured to the lower edge ofthe side 8 of the can by the series of rivets at which have already beendescribed, and this joint is likewise soldered to make it water-tight.

may be formed from one piece of sheet metal as indicated in,Fig. 5, andalso Fig. 7, in which construction but one side scam in the can isnecessary, and this may be made at one of the corners where the pocketis located. If desired, however, the can may be made in the ordinary wayin which a single sheet of metal is used for each of thc four sides,-

with a riveted and soldered seam down each corner of the can.

T he'pocket formed on the can is watertight and it provides uponits'interior an air space 18 which extends practically over the entireside in the com-itruction shown herein, though the area. of the pocketmay be more .or less contracted in respect to. the width of the side ofthe can upon which it is extending sides thereof, and it If preferred,the'four sides of the can Referring to the drawings, in which like.

located. The air space of be comparatively narrow, and yet it will serveto insulate or retard the freezing action within the zone of the pocket,when the can is placed in the freezing-mixture for the pur-- pose offreczing the water contained in the Call. i

In Fig. 5, in which the can is shown as having its four sides formed ofone piece sheet metal the pocket 18 is made by having the sheet metalpiece 11 with its fianged edges placed within the can and riveted andhereinbefore described.

provided at one end with theair-pocket 18..

) "Within the air-pocket 18 is arranged an air-in ecting pipe 20 whichv1s suitably secured to the side of the can and has its troduc ed intothe within the pocket and near The channel 21 1s in communication metalbent into with side flanges 27 and 28 and a bottom lower end threadedand screwed into a.

threaded channei 21 formed in a fixture 22 whichis made fast to the thebottom there of. with the interior of the can by meansof an aperture orduct 23,- and the channel 21 is continued below the level of the duct23, so as to form a cavity or catch-all 24 in which foreign mattercontained in the air may accumulate. The upper end of the air pipe meansof a friction joint or air-pipe 20 is secured substantially on thecenter line of the side of the can within the pocket, and when inoperation the elbow- 25 is coupled with the air supply pipe,:

which is generally a flexible tube,

as shown at 26 in Fig. 3.

In. Fig. 5, I show a modified form of the air pipe 20 which isconstructed of'sheet a. trough-shaped structure where the trough-shapedmember flange 29,

the respective flanges of the is closed,

trouglushaped member being riveted and soldered water-tight to theexterior of the side of the can. At" suitable points on a vertical linein the center of the side of the can I form small perforations '30 forplacing the interior of the air-duct 20 in communication with theinterior of the can, so that a series of air jets maybe incan in avertical plane. Where the series of air-"injecting openings-80 are usedas. soonas the lowermost one is closed by the'formation of the ice theones above it continue in use and so on through the series of openings.In this way the air may be injected into the body of water from whichthe ice is formed until practically all of the body of water is frozen.

this pocket may side of the can "connected with the elbow 25 20 isprovided with an elbow piece .which is removably secured thereto byotherwise; This" about twenty-three inches- In Fig. 3 I show my improvedca "as placed within an ordinary containing afreezing medium 32wh1ch .isusually brine at a low temperature which temperature is created andmaintained by the use of ordinary ammonia pipes are not shown. In thisfigure, the ice-block 33 is shown as practically completed and in thisconditionthe can 'may be removed from the tank'and the ice-block drawnfrom the can. A further freezing however will reduce the size of thecentral cavity or core 34 of the ice-block and cause it to assume subasshown in Fig. Y

stantially the dimensions t. This, however, is amatter of expediency anddepends upon whether the freezing process be shortened or prolonged, andin cases where it is prolonged until all the water in the can is frozen,the core contains what is known as white ice instead of beingconstituted by a narrow space or pocket in thefcenter of the ice-block,as is the case where the freezing process is shortened.

Throughout the freezing action air-is 1ntroduced into the body of waterfrom which the ice is formed, from a pipe 26"which is of the airinjecting pipe 20-- and it is forced into the 23 located inthe lowerpart of the can on the center line of the pocketed-side thefreezingaction and substantially uniform effect upon all fair or-insulatingpocket is located and where the-airis injected 'into the I sult that thelast portion of the ice-forming I is that located substan tially intheplane that is vertical and cen can, with ..,the re-.

water? that is frozen tral in respect to onehorizontal dimension of theice-block." This unfrozen portion or core 34: is thus centralized in avertical plane in the ice-block and where one pocket only is used thecore or space 34: is located nearer to the insulated or pocketed side'ofthe can than it is to. the opposite side. -Where, however, the can isprovided with pockets upon.

' Fig. 6-, the

two opposite sides as shownin core .or cavity .34 is substantially'an-eq'ual distance from each' pocketed side. and is of coursecentralized between the two opposite uninsulated' sides of the can.Where the commercial size of. the ice-cake is about forty inches deep byabout twenty-three inches by eleven lnches in, its othertwo-dimensions,I make the can of suflicient depth to have the ice-block forty inchesdeep, and I make the horizontal dimensions of-the can by twenty-twofreezing tank 31 which I body of water t rough the duct or openingthereof. 1 The air is thus introduced for the well known purpose ofslightly agi tatingthe ice-forming Water during the process of freezingin 1 'order'to produce clear ice.

In. the use of this ice can, as just described,-

takes place with full 55 the pipe is not inches and arrange theair-pocket.- on'the twei'ity-two inch side of the can. In making theice-block in this can, the core 34 being centralized as block is remoblock in half, of the core using the plane of the core as the cuttingvline, and I thereby obtain two commercial sized cakes of clear ice whichis free from core ice. here, however, the morev desirable clear manded,and it is not objectionable to have llhG'COIl'lHlCICltll cake contain acore or cavity, I make the pocketed-canabout half of the twenty-two.iiich horizontal dimension, namely eleven inches, as shown in Fig.7,leaving the other dimensions as described, and in this can there may beformed one cake of ice 35, of commercial size, with the core 34incorporated in the cake, and which core is left in the cake. The airpipe 20 which I have herewith shown passes through an opening in the lugor bracket 39 on the side of the can near the upper end thereof andmakes a snug fit therewith in order to hold it fast. The pipe may alsobe soldered in place if desirec.

' I find from the use of this can that by making the cross-sectionalarea of the iceblock substantially sectional area of th cake, that thetime required to freeze such a block is considerably lessened inproportion to that required where the icc bloclc is made ved from thecan, I cut the icethe commercial sized cake. Furthermore, by having thecan with its insulating-pocket and its air-injecting pipe forming a nentpart of the structure, so that the de-' scribed parts constitute aunitary commercial article, much in handling the cans, when the ice isharvested or drawn from the cans, for in the construction where anindependent or separate airi1 ijecting=pipe is employed and the same issuspended within the vice'can, it requires separate handling and carefuladjustlnent'to locate the pipeinits properplace' to. prevent its beingthe iceb lock, and when it is frozen in the I ice-block considerabledifficulty results in having to thaw or cut it out of the block. It willalso be having the air-pipe located within the pocket, only protectedfrom the ac.- tion of the brine during the freezing process, butit isalso protected .from' injury when the cans are removed from thefreezing-tank and manipulated-in the removal of the iceblock, for thepipe is completely housed by the pocket. Another most importantadvantageof this improved'can is that the ordinary service water in whatis called raw condition, that is undistilled, may be used for making theblock of ice from which may be ake of ice is not deequal to twice thecross-- e commercial. size of ice more than-twice the cross-sectionalarea oi" perma time and labor is saved prematurely frozen into observedthat by .virtue of" I cut commercial described, when the onsubstantially the center line I sized cakes of ice that are clear.

It will be understood that I do not limit my invention to the particularcons'tructio'ns herein shown, as various .modificati'ons may be madetherein, without, however, departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by'Letters Patent'is: t

1. As anew article of manufacture, a can in which ice is artificiallymade and provided upon one or more of its sides and above the bottomwith means for excluding the freezing medium sides and retardingthefreezing process at such side or sides when the '-an with itscontents is. subjected to the freezing medium, and an air-injectorlocated sides having the freezingabove the air into the water in said asdescribed. 2. As a new 'in' which ice is retarding means can,substantially bottom witha' sive with said sideor sides and adapted to.

contain air and to exclude the freezing me-' dium and serving to retardthe freezing ofv piped can in which i air-injecting .ing of the waterwithin the locality of said the water Within the'can in the vicinity ofsaid pocket, the said pocket being formcdby substantially fromsuch sideor' upon one of said" article of manufacture, ascan 1 artificially madeand provided upon one or more of its sides and above the pocketsubstantially cocxten bottom and acting to introduce a sheet of metalsecured to the can and suit-.

ably spaced therefrom and extending substantially across the width ofthe side of the can, and an air injector'located upon one of saidpocketed sides and acting to introduce air into the water described. p v

3; As a new article of manufacture, a

ce is artificially made consisting in a can provided upon one or more ofits sides with a pocket adapted to contain air and servi ing of thewater within the vessel in the locality of said pocket,-the said pocket.being formed by a sheet of material secured to the can and suitablyspaced therefrom, and an pipe. or duct located upon a; pocketed-side ofsaid can and suitably secured thereto within the zone ofretardation andprovided with a 'series of vertically arranged openings into theinterior of the can, substantially as described.- i 4:. As a-new articleof manufacture, a piped can in which ice is artificially made consistingin a can provided upon one or more of sides with apocket adaptedtocontain-air and serving to retardthe freezvessel n the pocket, 2.fixture secured upon the side of said can near'the bottom thereof and.within said pocket and provided with a duct v. ture and communicatingwith the interior of passing. through said fix? in the can,substantially as ng to retard the freeze the can, a cavity oricatch-allbeneath said duct below the level of its opening into the can, anair-channel connected with said duct in said fixture and extending.upwardly through said pocket to the upper end thereof and adapted to beconnected with an air supply pipe, substantially, as described.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a piped can in which ice isartificially made consisting in a can provided upon one or more of itssides with a pocketadapted to contain air and serving to retard thefreer ing of the water within the vessel in the'locality of said pocket,a fixture secured upon the side of said can and within said pocket andprovided with a duct passing through said fixture and communicating Withthe interior of the can, an air-conduit connected with said duct 111said fixture and extending upwardly through said pocket to the uppervided upon one or more of its end thereof and adapted to be connectedWithan air supply pipe, substantially. as described.

6. 'As a new article of: mariufacturaa can in which we 1s artlficlallymade and prosides with a ocket adapted to contain air and serving toretard the freezing of the Water within the can in the vicinity of saidpocket, and an air injector located upon one of said pocketed sides andarrangedto inject air into the water in the can-along a vertical plane,,sub-' stantially as described. p

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in' the presence Ofthe twosubscribingwitnesses. v r

I JAMES HUMES. Witnesses: Y

WILLIS Fowmn, 'HARRY PIOKE'ITL

